


The World Forgetting by the World Forgot

by Anyhoodle



Series: Blessed are the Forgetful [2]
Category: The Avengers (Marvel Movies), The Avengers (Marvel) - All Media Types
Genre: All that good junk, Gen, M/M, Memory Loss, Multi, Mutual Pining, Slow Burn
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2013-08-28
Updated: 2016-12-21
Packaged: 2017-12-24 21:32:38
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 5
Words: 13,581
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/944894
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Anyhoodle/pseuds/Anyhoodle
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Sequel to Blessed are the Forgetful, aftermath of a mind erasing experiment, the Avengers rebuild their team, fill in the gaps where something things are missing.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Getting the ball rolling

Steve normally didn’t like being completely alone for too long, He always enjoy the company of others even if none of those others spoke to him. But for now he relished the quiet.  
  
Back in his apartment in Brooklyn after being released from SHIELD. For days he’d been stuck in the facility under observation when all he wanted was to be alone with his unsteady thoughts.  
  
Perched on his bed Steve sbsentmindedly doodled nothing in particular in his sketchbook. His hands still felt a bit stiff clearly showing in the lines of his drawing. Steve sighed setting his pencil down and settling back into his pillow. Letting his eyes wander around his small cozy apartment once again. The place was familiar and safe and thats what he needed. A huge chunk of time was missing from Steve’s mind. When he’d woken up disoriented and lost, he had been told what had happened. Memory erasing experiment, a victim of mad science.  
  
Over time he remembered waking up from the ice, the panic of culture shock he felt and the distraught lost out of time feeling that followed. He knew where he was, what year it was and who he was. He recognized the technology set before him and even knew how to use it. Which disturbed him some.  
  
The phone he’d been given back, the small flat piece of plastic with a screen he had recognized as his own.  Once in his hand, Steve had effortlessly turned it on and automatically began to check his messages. Once he’d realized what he was doing, Steve dropped it as if had burned him.  And after he’d returned home, he placed it in the drawer of his bedside table and there it stayed.  
  
How Steve had been up to snuff with the technology around him was a mystery. He could work a computer well enough as well his phone Steve simply tried to accept it and move on to a bigger hole gaping in his mind. Where everything present was familiar, the Avengers themselves were supposed to be there was nothing.  
  
Steve had opted to go back to his old apartment than accepting the invitation back to Avengers Tower. Uncomfortable with being around people he apparently knew but couldn't recognize. Though he wouldn’t stay away forever, he just needed time to settle he told himself.  
  
 _The tower? Live with them? Howard’s son?_  
  
The words sank in but didn’t register as familiar. Deepening the feeling of loss he didnt understand. He wanted to remember the faces in these pictures and videos but just couldn't. Which just made him flat out sad. Despite the desire to be alone Steve would feel momentary crash of loneliness. So crushing at times Steve just felt the need to hit something or run until his lungs burned.  
  
Even when he slept he would have fuzzy dreams of people calling out to him. Their voices known, wading through the hazy fog trying to desperately get to them. Sometimes he would feel hands on his shoulders belonging to no one, and sometime he would stay lost in the fog.  Steve would wake up in a cold sweat tangled in his sheets and an emptiness boring in his chest. But the promise of friends in the future was something Steve looked forward to.  
  
Friends. He was friends with Howard's son. Steve liked the sound of that. They even lived in the same building. There was a kind of thrill in that. Steve would look at news clippings of he and Iron Man shaking hands while smiling, in tuxedos standing with the mayor, even tabloid articles with fuzzy candid pictures of them walking together, arms hooked in one picture, what looked like them having an argument in the next, then smiling again in another. It was both confusing and facinating, seeing himself in pictures at events he couldnt recall. It left Steve wondering what kind of friendship did He and Tony really have.

Steve wanted to meet Tony, talk with him ask him questions. But something inside him shyed away from the idea. Steve just needed time, yeah time And If they were really friends it wouldn’t be a problem to get reacquainted again Steve resolved.

  
Just not now.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "I hear and I forget. I see and I remember. I do and I understand."  
> Confucius

Tony’s brain still felt like scrambled eggs.  
  
Not as bad as it had a week ago but scrambled nonetheless. Fried, rubbery, maybe even a bit runny at times. That was a nice mental image.  
  
It had been nearly two weeks since he’d left the med bay at SHEILD. Tony still had that weird disconnected feeling in the back of his brain and his synapses still didn’t fire quite right.  At first Tony’s motor functions had been shot, moving and flexing his fingers had taken serious effort. Willing his limbs to cooperate with quiet determination.  
  
Speaking had taken even more effort, Tony would forget simple words, unable to form sentences. Speaking slowly with an odd stutter, while Tony’s inner dialogue roared in frustration.  
  
Especially being unable to feed himself, which was humiliating enough for this lifetime, it was just adding insult to injury. Tony didn’t appreciate being rendered feeble, when he was everything but. And he really didn’t appreciate the sad for you looks given to him by everyone.  
  
Thankfully Tony’s brain eventually found the right connections to his limbs and mouth within hours and soon he was able to tell that ‘hawkguy’ that kept poking his head in every half hour “buzz off birdbrain”, with all the sass he could muster but only to have the guy all but light up and perch himself in a chair closer to the bed instead. A reaction Tony hadn’t understood at the time.  
  
Adding to a plethora of things Tony didn’t understand.  
  
Now that Tony had control over his own limbs and could speak with more ease, he could function relatively well on his own. It was the blank spots in his mind were now the main problem. Tony’s entire memory bank had holes burned into it, creating a timeline with major gaps. A broken sequence of days strung together.  
  
In the beginning, while Tony got the hang of talking and using his hands, he would ask simple questions sometimes more than once when the answers refused to stick. At first it didn’t seem all that bad. But it wasn’t until he saw the look on Pepper’s face when Tony had asked where Obie was, that Tony hadn’t realized the severity the damage.  
  
After that Tony stopped asking questions and insisted he would look for answers himself. Tony had spent hours having JARVIS pull up news clips and old surveillance and HUD feeds to look over, thumbing through files and having Pepper fill him in on goings on from the company.  
  
Three days later, with very little sleep and beating his head against a stubborn wall of frustration, he was still fried and exhausted. Sleeping was no help, and when he did managed to fall asleep he’d have the same weird dream of wandering through the tower or his house back in California looking for something he couldn’t find but didn’t know the name of.  
  
Tony finally came to the conclusion, trying to remember on his own was harder than he expected.  
  
Wonderful.  
  
Tony was now sitting alone on the floor of his penthouse, staring down at the floor in a frustrated funk, pondering his next move. Partaking in an odd new way of dealing with the frustration of encountering a memory gap. Where he would stop what he was doing and calmly sit on the floor in the spot where he’d been previously standing. An odd habit he’d developed the past week.    
  
A gesture of resignation after something didn’t go exactly right after a handful of tries. Little things set this odd reaction off, Tony had already been caught multiple times already just sitting alone on the floors of various rooms. Once in his bedroom after forgetting why he went in there. Twice In his workshop surrounded by tools he’d dropped, and two days prior Clint had caught him sitting on the kitchen floor after he’d momentarily forgotten how to turn the espresso machine on.  
  
Today’s spot of choice was by the window looking out onto the city. Near an odd patch on the floor where the surface didn’t quite match. But only if you really stared at it. Tony ran his fingers over the line that separated the subtle color differences while an annoying nagging tugged at his brain.  
  
Tony had noticed this color difference earlier in the morning but instead of simply asking what the deal was, he studied it himself just hoping it would come to him, after a half hour, nothing.  
  
Tony didn’t mean to feel sorry for himself, at least out in the open. Today was the first time he had the HQ to himself in a while. Finally convincing his keepers that he was functional enough on his own and for them to go on with their errands. Pepper reluctantly flying back to Malibu for catch up work and damage control, calling every hour to make sure he was ok. And he had been perfectly fine for most of the day, right up until he’d found the odd discolored tiles on the floor.  
  
Tony knew he was experience burnout, something he was no stranger to. But still refused to ask for help. He didn’t want to ask about the floor, this slump now wasn’t really about the floor tiles anymore. It was everything, his half baked brain and and this overwhelming inexplicable feeling of loss. Loss of memory and time.  
  
Someone had the gall to go inside his head and try to scrape it clean, that somehow went wrong and now he was left with a patchwork of mismatched thoughts and memories. Not just him but they’d gone for Romanoff and Rogers. And Romanoff seemed to be bouncing back just fine though which didn’t seem very fair.  
  
Tony would then think about Rogers and where he was since he wasn’t mentioned much. Wondering how he was and if he was sitting somewhere with a fried brain too. Tony had a few questions about him, yet he never asked anyone about him so they never told.  
  
Whatever.    
  
All this thinking and moping wasn’t helping the situation. Part of him wanted to be left alone but another part of him wished someone would come back and bother him. Almost half expecting it actually. Someone to walk up to him and shake him out of his funk. Every few minutes Tony would absentmindedly glance up at the couch in the center of the room expecting to see someone sitting there.  
  
Maybe he would just wait in that spot until that person came back, then he’d feel better.  Ooo pining for someone that wasn’t even there, how tragic.  
  
“Maybe I should get a dog.” Tony mused out loud looking around the empty space.  
  
_“Sir, may I suggest, if you are considering a pet, to begin with a fish. So that it’s eventual premature demise isn’t as upsetting.”_  
  
“Hey now.”  
  
_“Or perhaps start an herb garden is more your speed.”_  
  
“I get it I get it. Kick a guy when he’s down why don’t you?”  Tony called up into the ether with a melodramatic air.  
  
_“I would never.”_  
  
Tony snorted, scratching his head. All this thinking was making his brain itchy. His brain actually itched. He decided maybe he should get up before someone caught him in his little funk, or grew roots.  
  
Busy his itchy brain with something. Tony began mulling over the idea of an actual spice garden. Or a hydroponic garden, why not. Stark Tower could use a green house, for shits and giggles at most. Getting up from the floor, Tony let his mind wander off on that tangent. Relishing the relief being lost in something trivial gave him.  
  
It felt good to stop trying to recover something lost and move on, he was a futurist after all. And Tony would make sure it would be a damn good garden. Tony was already began mapping out schematics from the couch when Barton appeared in the elevator. Tony glanced up quickly as he entered the room.     
  
Tony’s all around impression of the guy, he was alright. A little blunt, kind of an ass and probably had a case of undiagnosed ADD. Always fiddling with something or distracted by something. Barton also did seem to lack delicacy in some situations, poking jokes to make light of the situation, earning angry glares from Pepper and a gentle chastising from Banner. Which was partly why Tony liked him.  
  
Tony could tell that he really did try to tread lightly around him with the jokes but poor guy probably couldn’t help it.  Eventually something rude would slip and he would catch himself, eyes darting around like he’d tripped a mine. Tony would just let them slide, cursing his slow moving brain coming up with retorts minutes too late.  
  
The the day Tony finally shot a comeback in perfect time, Barton’s face lit up same as before and the pussyfooting stopped. But the kid gloves did recently get slipped back on since Barton caught him on the kitchen floor foiled by an espresso machine.  
  
“Hey champ, Whatcha got there?”  Barton cooed facetiously, slightly bent over the floating blueprint hands on his knees. “Little project?”  
  
“Building a birdhouse, spacious enough for you?”  
  
“Will there be wifi?”  
  
“And a nice little perch out front.”  
  
“Bitchin.”  Barton said squinting and pointing down at the diagram he asked.  “Really what is that?”    
  
“Hydroponics.” Tony answered poking at the floating chart. “The way of the future Barton.”  
  
“What are you a weed dealer now?”  
  
“Depends, you wearing a wire?” Barton grinned and rocked on his heels, clearly enjoying the banter while curiously studying the diagrams floating between them.  
  
“You’re not going all green on me are you Stark? You’re brain drain giving you hooey ideas?”  
  
“For your information It was JARVIS’s idea, of which I stole.”  
  
_“Just a suggestion in attempts of sparing an innocent canine life as well as to get you off the floor sir.”_   Tony tensed silently cursing. JARVIS that dirty snitch.  
  
Barton shot him a look that made Tony recoil from within. That sad for you look again. The kind that said ‘aww poor you wanna talk about it?’ Tony waited for it.  
  
 “You almost killed a dog? Maybe we shouldn’t leave you alone anymore.”  Gracefully skirting around the floor issue altogether.  
  
Tony relaxed, bullet dodged, snacks for him.    
  
“My hands are clean.”   Tony chirped shifting forwards. “So what’s the word bird?”    
  
Barton grew serious roosting down in front of the coffee table. There had been a small confab at SHIELD about updates on this latest crappy situation that Tony had effortlessly weasled out of. He had an itchy damaged brain to nurse. And situations to avoid.  
  
“Well SHIELD confiscated the equipment and is dissecting it to see what makes it tick. According to the past records that were taken too, you three weren’t the only ones they’d used it on. Just ones that aren’t vegetables. SHIELD is looking into tracking these people down.”  
  
“And the bastards behind it?”  
  
“Dealt with.” Barton stated simply in an 'thats all you need to know' firmness.  
  
“Good.”  
  
“Thats all I really picked up, I sort of zoned out after a while but I defiantly heard something about non-permanent damage so thats good I think.”  
  
Tony settled back on the couch and thought about all of that for a moment, beginning to seethe. Tony hated it when people took or even touched his stuff. He hoped they would never see daylight.  
  
“I’d give it a year.” Barton said abruptly cutting through the uneasy silence. Tony raised a curious eyebrow, Barton continued. “The dog, if you got one, I’d give it a year. At least until Pepper gets rid of it.”  
  
“Or Steve would just end up taking care of it instead.”  Tony commented casually without thinking, going back to the blueprint, from his peripherals Tony could see Barton stiffen and falter some. Tony stopped hand paused in mid stroke glancing up at Barton, now looking like someone stabbed his ass with a cattle prod.  “What?”  
  
“You just...and then...”  He trailed off and then squinted seriously.  “Repeat that.”  
  
“Repeat what?”  
  
“What you just said.”

"Something I said." Tony parroted hands still frozen in front of him.  What did he say?

Tony thought back and realized he couldn’t remember the last thing he had said. Mentally scanning the last few seconds and coming up blank. A cold dread seeping into his gut. He’d done it again.  Damn. Barton quickly dismissed it first with a ‘nevermind’ shifting uncomfortably and getting to his feet.

“Well I’m hungry, So I’ll leave you to your weed farm then. If you have need of me I’ll be in the kitchen eating your food.”  Barton turned away and scooted to the elevator. Just as the doors closed Tony gave a quick glance over at the spot on the floor again.  
  
“Definitely something I said.” Tony prodded at the blueprints a couple moments then quickly closed out the file.  “JARVIS did you get that?”  
  
_“Would you like me to play back of your last conversation with Agent Barton?”_  
  
“Just the end part. Play it.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Wow this took longer than I thought, I got used to not doing things and now I have to do things and writing is hard things to do. 
> 
> I rather loath exposition but unfortunately there will be more geh. I do have a vague idea of where this will go, I'll do my best


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “Moving on is easy. It's staying moved on that's trickier.”  
> ― Katerina Stoykova Klemer

“The floor?” Banner asked from his spot on the floor his laptop out in front of him. He looked curiously to Barton who’s on the couch close by shoving an overstuffed sandwich in his mouth.

Tony was finally ready to question things, beginning with why the hell didn’t the tiles on the floor match the rest of the floor. Yeah that could be good. It’s trivial and there are probably better questions he could ask first but this was simple enough to ease into. That last conversation with Barton raised even more questions than before and his itchy brain and damaged ego demanded answers. He'd watched the video feed JARVIS had replayed for him but it meant nothing to him. Just made his brain even more muddled and itchy.

He’d quietly sauntered into the living room as nonchalantly as possible and simply asked ‘Whats with the floor?’

“The tiles upstairs, there’s a spot, they don’t....match....” Tony trailed off, it sounded pathetic now that he was saying it out loud and Banner just stared back at him for a moment and could swear he saw a blush creep into his face.

Unexpected. Now Tony was interested.

Banner cleared his throat and Barton snorted a laugh into his sandwich. “I told you they didn’t match!” Barton chirped accusingly, pointing a finger at Tony. “I told you and you didn’t listen. Shit’s been bugging me for forever.”

Banner shot Barton a look and turned back to Tony. “The floor. Well see, when back when--” Barton cut him off with a slap on his shoulder.

“Hey hey. Why don’t we just show him? Hankering to see it again.” Barton said with a cheeky grin.

“I’m sure you do.”

Alright now Tony really had to see this. With some cajoling Tony settled on the couch next Barton pulled up old surveillance video. Through the footage Tony watched his penthouse get trashed, windows shattered while Barton sped through most of it trying to find the ‘good part’, speeding noiselessly through Loki’s quick little self righteous spiel about superiority to where Hulk created a Loki shaped crater in his floor.

Startling out a noiseless laugh out of Tony.

Banner started to flush again and Barton was getting one hell of a kick out it, giggling gleefully into his sandwich. Tony had a strong feeling that this particular video was watched more than once.

“There ya go.” Barton said with a flourish of his hand.

“Ok then.” Tony said simply. “Not gonna lie that was amazing, regardless of my trashed floor.” He applauded sitting back into the cushions. Banner cleared his throat and adjusted his glasses.

“Thanks. As for why tiles don’t match, that’s purely on you. By the time we moved in you had the tower completely renovated already.”

“I see.” It wasn’t exactly the answer he’d been expecting but it satisfied his frustrated curiosity enough. “That clears that up.”

“Alright.”

Tony tapped his feet anxiously on the carpet unsure if he actually wanted to ask another question to keep the ball rolling. He could ask what the whole Steve thing was about or maybe that moment had passed already.

“So wheres the rest of you?” Smooth segue.

“Thor’s somewhere downtown with Jane, he’ll be back.” Barton answered distracting himself by pulling a tomato out of his sandwich.

“No I mean. Like Romanoff. Or Rogers they live here too don’t they? Just haven’t heard much about them. Curious.”

“Oh. They’re around. They both requested ‘Me time’ before they came back is all. They'll be back."

The explanation sounded rehearsed Tony thought to himself but re quickly remembered how he held himself up the first few days so it made sense. He accepted it and “Alright fair enough.”

Banner set his laptop aside and looked up at Tony “And how are you today?” He asked sincerely.

“Hm? Dandy.” He said simply swiping through his tablet looking at nothing in particular, Banner was patient he didn't pry through Tony’s vague response.  
Tony was almost suspicious JARVIS had snitched to Banner about his reaction to the floor tiles too. “A little stiff fingers still a little scatter brained but good thanks.” Awkward silence descended and Tony quickly rebounded. “So got any more Avengers funniest home videos I haven’t seen yet?”

Banner shrugged.

"I think there's one of you being thrown out of a window. We could watch that again. Or watch Natasha strangle guys with her thighs!" Barton suggested enthusiastically in which Banner quickly answered a very Pepper worthy 'No'.

"What about stories? Got any I might remember?"

“Stories?” Clint reacted first sitting up straighter with a glint in his eye. “Do we have stories? Holy shit do we have stories! Like this one time there was this lizard guy....” Tony sat back while Barton babbled away about grenades and torn pants. “And I almost lost this finger.” he wiggled his left index finger. The story concluded and another began, until the sun began to set and Thor returned.

Once Thor arrived he was so glad to see Tony finally out in the open he jumped in with his own supplements of each adventure he was involved in. Whether it was being heroic or simple times. Like the time they tried to teach him about American football that turned into the most dangerous game of what was supposed to be touch football. Resulting in cases of bruised ribs and an appearance from the Hulk.

Tony liked the way Thor would go into great dramatic story sessions recollecting each battle they had fought in. Emphasizing each action with gusto he made it sound like he was telling him a big ancient epic than something he had actually done. Banner and Barton would add to Thor’s stories his own annotations and side stories. Barton would go off on weird tangents sometimes, emphasizing how stupid some of the stuff they had to deal with was but ended up kicking ass in the end. While Banner had some details, and minor corrections of his own to add.

Now it wasn’t so hard to ask questions and the others were more than glad to oblige. And anecdotes would follow. Each had their own ways of story telling, though they would connect eachother's stories where the other would leave off. Each relating what they did remember or their time together filling in gaps where they could. And in a weird way he did feel like he remembered them. At least the residual feelings and phantom pains from described injuries and arguments that had happened. It really was a bizarre sensation. Recognition without remembrance. It was an odd sensation.

Tony was glad he had begun asking when he did, it made the research that he had done on his own less unpleasant and his brain less itchy. He listened closely rewriting over the blank spots. It was also nicer hearing things about himself from people who had actually been there.

And so that weird feeling of unfamiliarity that had been looming over the tower had eased and the Avengers began to reassemble. Last names were used less and soon Tony was on first name bases again. The delicious feeling of progress and moving forwards. And once Tony felt he was done rebooting enough lost information, he decided to focus on rebuilding a new. He was still Tony Stark, Iron Man and billionaire genius. He wasn’t dead just a few cards short of a deck.

He just needed to form a new deck.

* * *

 

Romanoff showed up out of the blue one afternoon. One moment she was just there on the couch with Clint, settled in as if she’d never left. They’d given each other a simple nod and resumed what they had been doing. To Tony she seemed pretty well adjusted and put together considering. So much it almost wasn’t fair. Either that or she was really as amazing as he was led to believe she was. Kudos either way.

Romanoff had the same mindset Tony had with moving forwards rather than trying to recover what was gone. Though she would put her two cents in if they got into one of their Q&A’s. Quietly observing and taking in information supplemented to them.

Through their conversations Tony would remember that he wasn’t the only victim in this situation. He would noticed it the more stories were exchanged. Their faces would fall some whenever Tony claimed to have no memory of a certain situation, enthusiasm would dim.Tony could see it bright in clear in the way Clint looked at Natasha when he thought no one was looking. A look of hope and distress, the same look Pepper had when she would ask if he was ‘really sure’ he couldn’t remember something involving the two. Heartbroken that's the word.

Heartbroken.

He could feel it too. It sat heavy on his mind and in his chest. And then his thoughts would wander towards Rogers, somewhere dealing with this alone. Tony kind of wished he was there too, he’d like to compare notes with him. And he had to admit he was a little bummed out Rogers refused the immediate invitation back. They could all convalesce together. He wanted to see him.

The sheer fact that Tony knew Captain America was one thing but being friends and even sharing living space with him was another thing. When Tony would skim pictures of all of them standing together, serious faced, he found it hard to believe that they had worked together. The whole Captain America living there and such made logical sense, yeah but other than that Tony couldn't really remember anything regarding Rogers beyond Captain America. Especially how they had insisted they had been friends. Fairly close friends.

“Me and Rogers friends?” Tony had asked interrupting Clint’s story, something about a black tie gala and an ice sculpture. Clint had tittered something about being practically married. That even the media even thought so.

Tony chewed that idea over, that was actually kind of hard to believe. From the stories he’d been told by the others and micro snippets he did remember, the Cap was serious and all business. Black and white when Tony was all but frolicking in the grey area. And Tony couldn’t fathom ever being friends with that guy. It was a nice sentiment though.

After, Tony had pulled up some not so credible news articles about himself and skimmed through them.

Clint was right.

Along with Pepper, Tony had a phenomenal publicist that kept most of his shenanigans out of the media, but some of he and Cap’s weird misinterpreted pictures still made it into the news. Pepper hated the tabloids and the TMZ articles but Tony got a kick out of them. Showing them together having lunch or arguing in public with captions like "Super Couple on ice?" and "Hot on the town Iron Man and Cap."

Hilarious really.

Looking through these made Tony wish that Rogers was there too. Was it possible to miss someone you didn't really know?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> trying to write myself out of some corners but everything should move forwards after this. The tenses keep changing I notice I'm sorry about that too.


	4. Chapter 4

  
Steve finally pulled his phone out of the night stand drawer quiet and battery dead it stared back at him blank, innocent of the crimes set against it.

Reluctant, Steve plugged it in and booted it up. Numerous missed calls, texts, full message box. Steve grimaced down at the overwhelming amount of unread messages and set his phone back down again, mentally kicking himself for putting it off for so long. It had been almost two months where he’d successfully avoided talking to anyone. He knew he couldn’t keep this hermit act up forever.

  
How Steve managed to elude everyone this long still surprised him.

  
He was Captain America, that life would have to start back up eventually. Steve's mind would float back to SHIELD and the Avengers. He’d have to go back to all of that eventually too.  But Steve didn’t cloister himself away completely, he went out.  But this Avengers thing he didn’t quite know how to approach it. Steve knew he needed to press forwards to get past all of this. And he was going to now, starting with his telephone.  Steve scrolled through the messages without really seeing them, Most were from Barton., some from Banner.

  
Lots of invitations to movie viewings, game nights or dinners. Some letting him know they were thinking of him and hoping he was ok.  Steve felt a little guilty for ignoring these acts of reaching out to him. They’d given him his space but Steve finally agreed to himself enough was enough. They were his friends, and he’d been so freaked out by the little phone at the time he didn’t even want to look at it. Steve never did quite care for the phone to begin with and rarely used it aside from using it to call people. Steve stayed away from the ‘social media’ and still preferred newspapers and television for news.  Most people he met didn’t even use the phone to call each other anyway.

  
That yelp app was kind of neat though he had to admit.  
  
  
It was bizarre, knowing exactly how the phone worked. It was the same with the television and his little computer. Steve could navigate the internet just fine, like he’s always known. The small chunk of time where he learned all of this was gone.  Though It wasn’t so startling anymore now, now it was just frustrating. But he would get over it eventually, he would have to.  In seconds there was a ping and another message popped up. It was from Barton again. Steve smiled to himself as he read it, all it said was **‘Cappppp???/!’**.  Steve carefully typed out a _‘yes?’_ and quickly hit send right then the phone buzzed and chimed with an oncoming call. Steve’s insides gave a startled jolt and the phone fell from his hands over the side of the bed  
  
Steve cursed his reflexes, for being startled from something so dumb. He sat there flexing his hands while he listened to it ring. He was never the one to be skittish but lately his nerves seemed to be cross wired wrong. Now he was dropping things and jumping at sudden noises.

  
It was partially why he wanted to keep his distance in the beginning, a jumpy Captain America? How would that look? Steve had hoped that if he waited it out it would stop. The shaking in his hands had for the most part though at least that was something. The phone rang for a few more seconds then stopped.

Steve reached down to retrieve it, when the doorbell rang.  The phone pinged again while another ring from the doorbell sounded off. Steve looked to the phone then towards the door trying to decide which he should tend to first.   He sighed, stood  and shuffled to the front door, leaving the poor phone dangling over the side of the bed by its power cord. He wondered who could be so impatient and wondered if  the phone and door bell were the same person or two people tag teaming. He’d believe either.

  
Steve stopped short a few inches away from the door, his hand hovering over the knob. Deciding to peer through the peephole first, another uncharacteristic trait he’d picked up.  Carefully on his toes he leaned against the door and peeked through the peep hole to see a red haired woman staring down at her phone.

“I know you’re looking out the peephole, I heard you lean against the door.” She said still looking at her phone.  Steve felt his face heated up, caught. Natasha, the SHIELD agent.

  
Slowly Steve opened the door and peeked out, Natasha looked up and slipped her phone into her pocket.  She smiled.  “Hello Cap. Can I borrow a cup of sugar?”  He smiled a little embarrassed and moved aside to let her in.

  
Steve studied her while she moseyed into his living room, giving it a quick look around.  Natasha seemed to be doing just fine considering. She didn’t seem jumpy or even the slightest bit lost, that or she just hid it well. Steve wished he had bounced back that easily, and wondered if Stark was doing alright too.  
  
“So how have you been Steve?” Natasha asked, walking over to the couch and perched herself on the arm.

  
“I’m alright now and you? You seem to be doing well.”  Natasha gave him a shrug.  
  
“Amateur work. Let’s just say I’ve had better” She said and Steve faltered,  he wasn’t exactly sure what that meant but he couldn’t help but feel a little horrified at the idea of her being subjected to something like that more than once.

  
 Natasha sensed his alarm and assured him she was fine. Steve cleared his throat. “Can I get you something to drink?”  
  
“No thank you.”  Natasha looked like she was about to say something until  a low buzzing sound came from her jacket interrupting her.  She sighed as she reached back into her jacket pocket and squinted down at her phone, mumbling something in a language he couldn’t make out, then in English. “Jesus Clint. I swear.”  
  
“So state your business.”  Steve asked finishing the statement he felt like she was trying to make, while simultaneously trying to keep it light.

  
“What makes you think I have ulterior motives?”  Natasha asked dryly glancing up at him.

  
“I’m sure you didn’t come all this way just for sugar.”  Natasha grinned  and  raised her hands in mock surrender.  
  
“You caught me. But I come in peace. My sources told me you haven’t been answering your phone.” She wiggled her phone around for emphasis. 

  
“So you’re just a messenger then?”

  
“Of sorts, It was either me, someone from SHIELD or one of the three stooges.  But I figured a more subtle approach to lure you out was best.”

  
Steve figured the three stooges must be Banner, Barton or Thor, and laughed at the mental image of them doing a comedy bit, he couldn’t help himself. Seeing him laugh made her smile too.  She continued.

  
“Unless you’d rather have one of them come instead, I’m sure Coulson would be more than happy to. It’s not too late to call him, he might even bring a pie.”  Steve chuckled before he could stop himself. He knew Agent Coulson, he’d been around while he was at SHIELD.  Steve liked him.  It was always strange to Steve to meet a fan, it was even stranger to see the trading cards, now faded with time, still treasured. Before Steve left and went into hermit mode, Coulson had asked him to sign a couple of his trading cards. ‘Just the two’ Coulson said specifically then mumbled something about how he had a whole set once and was in the works of collecting a whole set soon.   
  
He shook his head. “You’re doing a fine job, no need.” Natasha crossed her arms and huffed shooting him a look of disapproval.

  
“You and Stark are the worst with avoiding people. If I have to show up for work then so do you.”  Natasha said with a slight shake of her head.  
  
“I was just getting caught up. I’m all caught up now.”  Steve made a face,  that sounded pathetic.  Her phone buzzed again and she chucked it aside onto the couch without looking at it. “You’re not gonna take that?”  
  
“It’s just Clint. He keeps bugging me to ask you if you’re coming back or not. That and for me to tell you that you owe him twenty bucks.” She said with a dismissive wave. “Disregard that last part.”  
  
“Okay.”  
  
“So are you?”

  
“Going to pay him back?  I don’t even know what for.”  Steve joked taking a seat on the couch across from her, Natasha raised an eyebrow at him. “Yeah. yeah I will. Am.”   
  
“Good. Because Tony keeps asking for you and refuses to call himself.”  
  
“Really?”  Steve felt that was hard to believe, but felt a small thrill in it. Tony Stark was actually asking about him. He fought the impulse to ask her why. He knew why, they were teammates, and friends. He had seen the pictures and videos and all of that. But it was still a surprise to him. 

  
“He’s pretending it’s not a big deal that you lived together. But I can tell he really wants to see you.”  Huh. Tony Stark wanted to see him. So it wasn’t too late. That was a relief.  “I think he’s just waiting for you to show up, like I did.” Steve didn’t reply, he sank back into the couch and mulled over what she’d said. He felt a little better about it all.  But now he couldn’t help feel guilty shutting himself away from everything.  “Cap....Steve.” 

Steve dipped his head avoiding her gaze.  “How’d you do it?”

  
“It wasn't easy, but I find it best not to dwell on it too long. You’ll burn yourself out. It happened, its over.”

  
“Right.”   Just move on. Steve rubbed his eyes and Natasha reached out to him again.  
  
“You’re not alone in this Cap. I’ve had both sides of this shitty coin done to me. Memories given, then taken. Don’t think I’m not feeling the strain too. Same with Stark.”  Steve looked up, Natasha was looking at him seriously but there was a sincerity and kindess in her eyes,  She's _just trying to help jeeze_ "It helps to have people around."

  
“Yeah. I’d like to come back.”  
  
“Good.” Natasha stood with a clap of her hands. She stood. “Then I’ll see you tonight.”

  
“Tonight?”   So soon?  “What’s tonight?” he asked instead.

  
“Game night.”  Natasha said simply with a turn. “Come on, there will be pizza, probably.” 

  
“Well if there’s pizza…”

  
“Fantastic.”  The phone on the couch began to buzz again and  Natasha gave another heavy sigh as she scooped it up and shoved it in her jacket pocket again. “You’ll be my date.”

  
Natasha headed for the door and Steve stood to follow.  “So, I’ll come get you in a couple hours.”  

  
 “I’ll be here.”  He opened the door. Natasha passed through. Leaning against the door frame he watched her go.  “You know back in my day, it was customary to bring flowers on a date.”

  
“I’ll consider it.”  Natasha waved over he shoulder. Steve stood there for a moment after she disappeared from sight before closing the door.  That worked out nicely. Talking to her helped a lot,  even just that little bit.  And a little rush of excitement came to him thinking about going back instead of the roll of awkward hesitation.

  
Steve thought about what Natasha had said before about Tony expecting him to just show up.  Steve had considered just showing up once or twice. But he couldn’t decide if that was appropriate or not. Sure Banner, Barton and Thor had sent messages of invitation to come back, but at some point he began to worry he might have missed his opportunity. Apparently not.  He shook the thought away and headed back to his bedroom to find the phone right where he’d left it.

  
And quickly back to Tony’s messages.  Steve tapped it quickly,  brought up the messages and read through them.  Some were snarky sarcastic exchanges, lunch dates,  random pictures of pieces of machinery. A few that involved his uniform and shield. A nervous buzzing hummed in his stomach as he skimmed upward through the older conversations.  A handful catching his eye in particular, the way Tony would talk to him in the messages surprised him. Tony jokingly calling him babe or old man.

  
Steve began to feel a familiar fondness while he read through them.

  
He really did have a close friend in Tony Stark. How exciting.

* * *

 

  
When Tony entered the kitchen he found Clint, sitting at the kitchen island staring at his phone, bouncing on the stool. He looked up and watched Clint watch his phone, as if he were willing it to move with thought alone. “Oh come on don’t do this to me. You know I hate waiting if I don’t have to.”  
  
Tony opened the fridge and  stared blankly inside.  He was ghosting,  he’d been ghosting all day.  Room to room, tinkering with projects, just going through the motions. He felt like he was forever trying to find something to busy himself, because if he didn't he would probably just sit and stare at a wall and waste even more time. So Tony stopped and decided to observe Clint watch his phone. Every few seconds Clint would mumble something to himself in a deep serious tone.

"Here sits the elusive hawk facing off with the ferocious Stark phone G4, though two generations behind, the phone still seems to pose a threat to the bird, Lets watch." Clint simply raised his hand and gave him the finger without looking up.  Tony closed the fridge just as Clint's phone buzzed followed by a lazer-like ‘Pew Pew’ sound and he quickly snatched it up off the countertop.

“YES!” Clint suddenly cheered staring at his phone and wobbled backward, Tony heard a scraping sound and watched him tip back and disappear behind the island. 

“Expert reflexes.”  Tony commented to himself opening his water and taking a sip. Clint popped back up just as fast unbothered that he’d just fallen off his stool. “Good news?”

“I guess.” Clint quipped shooting him an odd  look. A look that confused Tony, a look he decided wasn’t worth questioning for serious.

“Win an ebay auction? Let me guess, the bow that Orlando Bloom used in Lord of the Rings?”

  
“You bid on a movie prop once and it’s a joke for the rest of your life.”  Clint said holding his phone close to his chest defensively, sitting back down on the stool. “For that I’m not gonna tell ya. You’ll just have to wait and see.”

“I’m crushed.  I’ll go cry in a pile of money.” Tony pressed his hand to his chest and Clint waved him off vigorously texting with his other hand.

  
“Just bring it to the card table tonight I feel lucky.”

“Oh yeah I can’t wait to make it even bigger.” 

“We’ll see.”    
  
Clint’s phone pew pewed again and Clint’s smile dropped, then morphed into a suspicious scowl. “Date.  What date?” He mumbled aloud squinting down at his phone. Tony took that as a cue to leave, just in time to hear another "YES WOO." From behind.

* * *

  
“Bullshit!”

"Nope look three jacks. Read and weep Birdman."  Darcy picked up the three cards she'd just thrown down onto the table, Clint stuck out his tongue and scraped the messy card piled towards himself.

"I do not understand the goal of this game. We all must lie to each other to win?" Thor questioned innocently frowning down at his small deck of cards.

“Yup,  the best liar wins.”   Tony plucked two cards out of his deck and slapped them down on the table "Two aces.”

“Bullshit. You heard me Iron Lung, I said bullshit show me the cards.”  She and Tony exchanged a look and begrudgingly he reached over and scooped up the deck. And they started again. This type of exchange had been going on for nine consecutive turns, Tony just figured it was just an excuse to yell the word Bullshit so much. 

  
Tonight while they waited for Natasha to show Clint and Tony decided to attempt to teach Thor the game of Bullshit, but somehow couldn’t grasp the idea of bluffing.  Darcy had tagged along with Thor tonight and sat beside him trying to explain the rules.

  
“Alright, three queens and an ace.”

  
"Bullshit." Both Tony and Clint called out at the same time.

  
"Are the two of you just going to call bullshit every time someone puts down a card?"

  
“Maybe.”

  
“And that’s why I’m winning.”  Darcy leaned in and waved the only two cards in her hand.

Tony smirked and sipped his beer, he hadn’t been so keen on having her around at first, especially the way she had greeted him. _“Hey Iron Lung look at you, standing, using complete sentences. Good for you.”_ She’d said giving him a light bump in the arm with her fist. But Thor assured him that Darcy was great fun and knew well of the ways of card games. Tony slowly warmed up to her.  not only had she brought beer, the first he’d seen in weeks, she also had a razor sharp wit Tony could appreciate.

  
Darcy also claimed that she could meet him shot for shot and probably two for two. And promised once the prohibition on his household let up she had to put up or shut up.

  
“Alright I think I understand now.” Thor said plucking two cards from his hand and placing them on the table proudly. “Two fours.”  He and Clint exchanged a look and a nod. Darcy made a scoffing sound. 

  
“What you aren’t going to call that too?”

  
“It’s okay we believe him.”  Tony said and Darcy rolled her eyes and kick Tony's chair leg. The game resumed while the elevator doors slid open and Natasha arrived. Rounding the table she stopped behind Thor’s chair. 

“Hello kids what’s the game?”

  
“Bullshit.  Know it?”

  
“I’m proud to say I do.  Who’s winning?”

  
“I am. Iron Can here's got a bit of a card collection going.”  Tony tittered and leaned back in his chair, tilting perilously back.

  
“Where’s Bruce?”

  
“Over there being boring.” Tony jeered with a point of his thumb over his shoulder. Bruce gave a small wave from his spot on of the couches a couple feet away then went back to his book. Natasha smiled.  “So now that we’re all here we can switch to big kid games.”

  
“Oh. I hope you don’t mind but I brought a date.” Natasha said unzipping her jacket and having a seat on the other side of Thor.  “Be nice he’s nervous.”

  
Someone had followed in behind Natasha Tony didn’t pay much attention, until Darcy let out a loud “Heyyy Stars and Stripes!” Tony couldn’t help but double take.  There was Rogers cautiously creeping into the room clutching a pink box in his hands.  He gave a small bashful wave.  Tony lurched forwards on the chair legs landing startled.  A quick rush of heat rushed into his stomach and up to his head, followed by a small flutter of excitement. He was staring.  Tony jerked and looked away setting his beer on the table, trying to hide his surprise. 

  
“I hope I’m not interrupting. I brought donuts.” Rogers said with an unsure smile. Tony didn’t respond he couldn’t seem to be able to. Thankfully everyone else did it for him. Even Bruce got up to greet him with a happy handshake. Tony quietly cursed remembering Barton cheering himself off a stool earlier that day about good news, then something about a date. Ohh. Their eyes met for a brief moment and Tony glanced away.

  
With everyone’s attention on Rogers while tony scooted himself back a ways, separating himself from the commotion.  Tony’s brain scrambled, searching for a reaction. Greet him . say something. He’s finally here now what?

  
Everyone welcomed Rogers to the table, making space for him to sit. Placing the box of donuts in the center of the table.  Both Clint and Thor automatically reached for the donuts. Despite the unfortunate bout of selective mute-ism Tony was actually happy to see him. He was glad to see he was alright.  Everyone seemed a hundred times more cheerful now that he was there. And instead of a game night it felt more like a celebration. Tony shook himself forcing himself to speak.

  
“So its about time, I was starting to believe it was all a practical joke.”

  
“Practical joke?”  Rogers said quizzically, it was almost cute. Oh god he was like Thor. Tony cleared his throat.

“Never mind. So what’s your game Cap. Fish? War?  This lovely game of bullshit?” Tony asked scooping up the deck. They had cards back in the war, he was bound to play a little poker at least. Would he play bullshit? Was Captain America even capable of swearing? That was something he'd be willing to hear. 

Rogers sat for a moment while he thought. Everyone else cleared the table for space to play.

“Uh I don’t know. Texas holdem I guess?”

“Ohh how American. It’s that kind of party.”

“I’ve played before but I’m not really that good.” Rogers said with the smallest of winces.

  
“I’ll be the judge of that.” Darcy declared giving Rogers a nudge in the ribs with her elbow.  Rogers smiled and a strange unexpected rush came through again. That smile, the Captain America smile, 

  
“What's the starting bet?”

  
“Wait I got a better idea. Theres like nine  packs of Oreos in the pantry,  we can use the donuts too. Divvy them up, all of the fun and  no one goes home too broke.”  Clint said around a donut he was already munching on.

  
“Just diabetes.” Said Natasha.

  
“The way the gods intended.”  Tony said with a clap of his hands and Thor hooted in approval.  “I like it.”

  
So the cookies were collected divided and the game began. Tony began to feel more better as the night dragged on.  They laughed and shared stories, keeping it light. By two AM Steve and Darcy had collected most of the cookies while Clint and Thor ate most of theirs. Bruce had long gone to bed.

  
“You said you weren’t good at this.”  Tony said motioning to Rogers’ pile of neatly stacked oreos of diffetnt types. Tony noticed they were organized by color, while his was just an assorted pile. That made him smile.

  
“I’m not at least I didn’t think I was.”

  
“I’m out or I’m gonna go into a coma.” Clint murmured holing his head. Natasha sighed and gave the side of his head a poke.

  
“Well if you didn't have to keep eating your pile and mine.” She set her cards down and pushed her chair away. “I fold too. Cap and Darcy cleaned me out. I’m taking my winnings to the kitchen where there’s milk.” Natasha said gathering her pile and stuffing them into an empty Oreo tray. 

She stood and gave Clint as mall whap on the top of his head. "Cmon."

  
Clint raised his head and slowly stood too, with a slight wobble. “I cant tell if I’m drunk or coming off a sugar high. Tomorrows gonna be interesting." Natasha rounded behind Clint, handed him the pack of cookies, then grabbed him by the shoulders and guided him towards the elevator.

  
“Goodnight.”

  
Darcy was nodding off and Thor simply picked her up off the chair and scooped her up into his arms. “Yes, this game has gone on long enough for me and her. I bid you good night captain, Tony.  Until tomorrow.”   Thor said genially and left the table.  Now it was just the two of them.  
  
“Right.”  Rogers glanced at his wrist in pure habit then looked away “I didn’t realize how late it was. I think I’ll fold too."

  
“We’ll that means you win.” Tony stood slowly and began to gather all the cookies into a neat pile too.  “I didn't think you to be a hustler. I think I found a way we could make some good money if you’re in.”   

  
Rogers didn't answer but smiled some, getting up from his chair and pulling himself into a long stretch Then he reached for the other piles of cookies to clean them up, Tony stopped him. "Dont worry about the mess. Its taken care of."  Rogers faltered, asked him if he was sure. Tony reassured him again it was fine then a third time for good measure.  He nodded and reached for a handful of Oreos leaving the table. Tony kept a side eye on him as he wondered away from the tabled to reach for his jacket.

“Wait. You’re not just gonna go back home right now are you?”  Tony asked, just as he began to slide his jacket on. Rogers stopped mid motion and looked up at him bewildered. He made a thoughtful sound.

“Well yeah. At least I guess I thought was.”

“Nah. You got a room here, just the way you left it. Have at it.”

"Oh right." Tony watched Rogers blink and agree to staying over with an innocent expression and a pile of cookies in his hands. America's Icon, was kind of precious. "Okay."

Tony abandoned his pile of cookies and pushed passed him heading toward the elevator.  "Come on I'll show you." Tony said swiping his hands on his pants. Rogers quietly trailed behind him still clutching his cookies close.

 

* * *

  
They shared the short elevator ride down to the floor Steve’s suite was on. “Hmm Natasha's not a good date. She abandoned you, left with another man and now I have to walk you to your door.”  Tony said leaning against the railing. “I wouldn't let her sneak second base next time if I were you.”

Steve laughed. He was relieved really at how easy it was to talk to Tony. He really didn't understand why he'd waited so long to come back now, it didn't make sense anymore. While the elevator descended Steve nibbled on of the red Oreos. Tony pointed to the flower poking out of the front pocket of his jacket. "Did she give you that?"  Steve looked down at the daisy and poked it with his index finger.

"Yeah. She's not a bad date really." Steve answered.

"I still wouldn't let her get to second base though. Those types are always after one thing."

"I'll be on guard next time." Steve waited, he thought Tony was going to say something else, when he didn't after all Steve bit into the cookie again. The elevator stopped abruptly and the doors slid open.

“There you are. Goodnight.” Tony said with the flourish of his hand. Steve stepped out and turned around to wave just before the doors closed.

Now left standing alone in the short corridor he wondered over to the door and cautiously entered. The suite was spacious, with a large bed against the wall, one small couch and a desk on the opposite wall. Large picture windows let in the night sky and cityscape. Steve reached for the lights and they slowly faded on.

The walls were painted a dark blue that matched  the comfortor on the bed. It was a comfortable room. It instantly registered in his head that this was his room. The first confident thought Steve had had in a while.

“Captain Rogers. I have been instructed by Sir to ask if you need any assistance.” Steve automatically looked up, surprised but not scared.

“No, thank you, I’ll be alright.”

“If you do please do not hesitate to ask.” Steve liked the voice JARVIS, he too was comforting, this was his room.

Curious, Steve set his pile of cookies down on one of the end tables and quietly padded over to one of the dressing tables and slid out one of the drawers. He wasn’t sure what he was expecting, but was still surprised to see a half full drawer with nicely folded shirts.  The drawer above filled with socks and underwear organized neatly.

  
In the spacious closet, hung a couple jackets and folded pants. Boots on the floor.  
  
Steve did ask JARVIS to dim the lights again. Steve took off his jacket and threw it on the bed on his way to the windows. He leaned forwards and looked out, being up this high had its advantages.  Even at the late hour the city was still very much alive below. Shining bright always moving, despite everything going on around it, life went on. So would his.

  
Steve reached for one of the pairs of sweat pants and  t-shirts form the drawers.  The t-shirt had a faded print of his shield on the front.  Steve changed in the dark and climbed into the bed. It didn’t take long for him to drift to sleep. In the early morning Steve left, and returned in the afternoon with more of his things.


	5. Chapter 5

Tony was back to work. 

 

And with that there was a sense of relief now that everyone was back under one roof.  It seemed like everyone felt the same because the hovering had stopped. Pepper only took to calling once a day instead almost every hour. Happy and Rhodey popped by less too.

 

Now he was able to concentrate on the current events at hand. There had been a blip on his radar for a couple days now, rumors that somewhere in the Netherlands some of  his stolen tech was being modded and played with.  SHIELD was monitoring it for now but it was only a matter of time until a poorly done copycat would pop up and screw shit up.

 

This sort of thing was actually pretty common, the upside was that Tony’s designs upgraded regularly and those who managed to get a hold of his designs were so far behind and unable to even understand the rudimentary schematics. So Tony didn’t worry too much about it being a threat. It was just annoying when people touched his things without permission.

 

Especially if it made a mess that he got blamed for.

 

The very first suit he’d made had been destroyed years ago, same with the twenty eight predecessors.  He wasn’t sentimental so there weren’t any pieces for anyone to get a hold of, not even shrapnel.

 

Though he wouldn’t admit out loud that it was interesting to see what others would do to his designs to make it their own. From his studies he saw an array of alterations. The reverse engineering on some of them was creative to say the least.

 

 Doom had made them glow green with radiation and gave them garish boxy design. Hammer had made poorly constructed and bulky copies that never worked. Vanko made drones. And Obie had made one behemoth he was glad he didn’t remember. The list went on.

“Geeze, get your own ideas.”  Tony mumbled into his almost empty coffee mug while watching fuzzy surveillance videos SHIELD had sent over.  He sat back and rubbed his eyes, if he wasn’t careful he’d burn out again. He shut down the feeds with the wave of his hand and pushed away from his work desk.

 

Thankfully he had Romanoff and Barton investigating other possible copycat groups too that helped. SHIELD had assigned the two to look into a few other leads. Both had leaped at the opportunity, Romanoff probably looking for some action and Barton just wanting to be with her.

 

Thor had gone back to Asgard finally as Tony assured him that it was alright. Assuring everyone that he wouldn’t be gone for too long and that Heimdall would  keep a close eye.

 

Bruce kept to himself in his mild mannered way, puttering away in his own area on another floor, that just left Rogers. His mind would wander to him ever so often, wondering about what he was doing while he was hold up in his workshop. If he was alright. It wasn’t like he was worried about him or anything. Rogers was a grown man.

 

Tony scooted back from his workbench and headed upstairs in search of coffee. 

  
It wasn’t hard to find Rogers, the first place Tony went, there he was. At the kitchen sink  washing some dishes of all things. Tony wasn’t sure what he expected it was a normal enough chore, but couldn’t help but stare a bit.  Rogers looked so normal standing there doing normal domestic things, in a t-shirt and jeans.      


 

It was just fascinating to watch, this was the same guy his dad talked about so much, the same guy on vintage recruitment posters and fought with a shield.

 

  
Rogers was a comforting presence too, to Tony he came across very solid and level. Just knowing that he was nearby was comfort enough for him.  Seeing him was a little bit of a different experience though. Because Rogers was actually kind of adorable, in his own way. That was something Tony was still trying to come to terms with. The image of him neatly stacking oreos by color and quantity was burned into his retinas forever.

 

 How was that even fair?

 

At first Tony had expected some serious faced leader, uptight and junk. But this had been a pleasant surprise. Steve had been very polite the first couple days he’d moved back in. All sorrys and thank yous. Cleaning up messes in the kitchen and neatly putting dishes away. 

It didn’t take long for Tony to find out how funny the guy was. The sarcasm on the guy was astounding. His favorite had been when He’d shared an elevator one afternoon, Steve was on his way to the gym.

 

Tony had made some off the cuff remark about being careful about the internet

 

“Well you have much more experience with it than I do.” Gave a gentle little smile and went on his merry way.

Had Captain America called Tony Stark old?  With a backhanded compliment?  Tony was left delightfully stunned when Steve disappeared down the corridor.  Since then Tony was left with an insatiable need to talk to him. To poke at him to see what he would say next.

 

Especially since he’d come back they haven’t spent much time together. Rogers had moved in again and Tony had barely said a word to him. He almost felt bad. He hadn’t meant to ignore him.  Tony had planned to invite him out to lunch or something then the tip from SHEILD that yet another group had stolen and trying to recreate his tech. Then he just plain forgot.

 

  
_"Don't be creepy Stark."_ He thought to himself finally entering the kitchen.  The kitchen brightly lit from both the windows and large skylight up top. Despite the warmth steaming from the ceiling the linoleum was shockingly cold to his bare feet.   


 

Tony gave a fairly quiet yet still undignified sound that made Steve look up and take notice.There was that face again, friendly, straight forwards.  What the hell was this?  Did the public know Rogers could look like that? If they did he could probably have the whole country eating out of the palm of his hand more than it already was at least.

 

 “Morning.”  Tony gave him a quick salute.

 

“Afternoon.”  Steve corrected turning back to whatever he was making. “It’s two oclock.”

 

“Is it really?”   Tony made a thoughtful sound moseying around the kitchen island.  Steve gave him a questionable look and turned back to the sink. Tony floated over to one of the cabinets to look for a snack. Treading carefully across tretchorus cold tiles. There was a way to fix this annoyance there had to be he thought his mind wandering.

 

“Heated floors.” He blurted out loud.

 

“I’m sorry?”

 

  
“Heated floors. Big in Korea, genius you'd love it. I spent most of my time in Seoul just laying on the floor.”  That memory had come easy to his pleasure. Steve looked a little lost, but gave him his full attention, probably waiting for more clarity over his heated floors outburst. That’s because Tony was babbling without any context, which is a rather normal thing for him to do, especially when he was uncomfortable. Tony cleared his throat. “The floor’s cold. I should install some heated floors here.”

 

  “In the kitchen?” He asked trying to keep up with the conversation.

 

“Sure why not?"

 Steve thought for a second then looked down at his own bare feet.

 

“I guess that could be nice. Especially since it’s December now.”

 

“Is it really?!” Tony started in genuine surprise. When did that happen? Tony shuffled over to one of the windows and peered out. There was sunshine but when he placed a hand to the glass there was a definite bite of winter  “Well how about that.” He mumbled and looked back at Steve amused.

 

Steve looked even more confused and Tony pressed his lips together reigning in a smile.

 “You really have been busy.”

 

 “Enough to not notice season changes.” Tony said peering into the box of Nilla wafers he commandeered. “I had to see a man about some stolen blueprints.” Steve’s eyebrows rose in concern.  “Nothing to serious.” 

 

“That sounds serious.”

 

“Annoying at most.  You’d be surprised how often it happens.”   Tony  said probably a little too casually, now Steve looked a little more worried, there was that face again.

 

“Well I mean, worst case scenario we get bombarded by a bunch of really bad knock offs. That make a mess.”   Tony said knocking on one of the wood cabinets for good measure. He really couldn’t deal with that right now.

 

“Do you need any help?” Steve offered, of course Rogers would want to help.  

 

  
“No no, Romanoff and Barton are on it.”  Steve made a thoughtful noise drying his hands with a dish rag. “Thanks though.”  He added quickly and shoved a cookie in his mouth before he said anything else dumb. Why was he even worried if he sounded dumb

Distracting  himself with the box of cookies he shoved another in his mouth and he leaned against the counter, a nice silence lingered between them for a brief moment.

Ugh this was getting awkward why was it so awkward? They used to be best friends right? They also used to fight a lot too. He was over thinking it, that brain itch would be back soon if he kept it up. Right coffee. 

 

  
Tony prepared the coffee machine in silence thinking back momentarily about installing heated floors in the kitchen maybe even other rooms as well.  As the machine boiled and hissed Tony turned to Steve and asked “Is it really already December?” Steve raised an eyebrow, and Tony reared back in mock offense. “I've been busy! Don’t give me that look.”  


 

“Probably stuck in that workshop you have. Whenever I ask where you are that’s what everyone says. In the workshop.”  Oh he was asking about it him huh?

 

  
"It's pretty comfortable down there, the more I think about I’m in there more than my own bedroom." Tony said over his shoulder while getting a mug from a cabinet.  Steve cleared his throat.   


 

“What do you do in there all day? I always imagine you just building robots or something.

 

“Well yeah,  genius never sleeps.”  Pouring coffee into his mug. 

 

"What kind of stuff? I mean besides your suits?" He asked at full attention. Pausing to take a sip from his mug Tony was surprised was he really interested.  


 

“You really want to see?”

 

“Yeah.”

 

"Alright. Yeah I think I got something to show you that you might like.”

* * *

  
  


  
Steve had learned that Tony didn’t invite anyone in just willy nilly so he felt a small swell of excitement following into its depths. Something personal about being invited into it.  Tony’s workshop had its own floor, a couple floors below the lab that he and Bruce shared. It was a little darker and much more cluttered and messy than the lab too. Prep tables littered with  tools and dissected projects with their wires spilling out.   


 

  
One of the Iron Man suits on display, standing guard like a medieval suit of armor. Steve peered up into the blank faceplate studying it. He knew it of course, it was one of the most recognizable objects in the world next to his shield.Tony had disappeared into the chaos that was his workshop for a moment leaving Steve to himself. He was beginning to wonder where he had gone when a small round cylinder whirred and bumped against his foot. Steve looked down surprised.

  
The cylinder gave a small whistle and did a little spin. Steve could almost swear it was happy.

 

“Pick it up, put it on the table.”  Tony said reappearing, Steve did as Tony said and gently picked  it up with his fingers and set it on the table. It hummed and moved,  his eyes trailed after it, It moved back and forth leaving a small trail behind.  On closer inspection showed they were words that read   “Clint sleeps with a blankey.”

  
Steve smiled and gave a small huff of a laugh. It whistled again with Steve’s approval and the little printer went over the message, erasing it.

  
“Just sync it to your phone and leave cryptic passive aggressive notes wherever you want.”

 

“That’s a nifty little thing.”

 

“It’s worthless but hey when you got an idea.” Tony said with a shrug. Steve regarded the little thing with awe as it did another little spin and puttered around the table.

 

 “It seems almost happy.”

 

“It is, in a way. It’s pleased that you like it.”   Steve raised an eyebrow; he supposed it was possible; JARVIS seemed to almost be alive.

 

“Cute.”

“It’s yours if you want it.”

 

“I’m not sure what I’d do with it.” 

I don’t know, cherish it?  Black mail? Chastise it for being useless to society like that failure over there?”   On cue one of the arm robots whirred sadly from the corner flexing its claw. “Yeah you heard me and I meant every word of it.”

Steve smiled to himself, while he held the small printer bot in his palm, resisting the urge to get it a stroke with his fingers as if it were really alive. It was amazing to him really, how someone could come up with these kinds of things. Strangely he wasn’t so overwhelmed by it all.

  
“So this is what keeps you so occupied? Make up teeny robots and suits of armor.”  Steve asked the question sounded dumb the moment he said it, Tony looked mildly insulted he scoffed laying a hand on his chest in mock offense.

  
  
“I’ll have you know, sometimes I make big robots and design teeny suits of armor.” Tony retaliated rounding one of the work tables.  “Seriously, I designed Jarvis his own body so he can roam around then got bored and made that little thing instead.  Besides  I’ve seen enough scifi movies to know what happens. But just between you and me, I’ll probably do it anyways.  What could possibly go wrong?”   


Steve faltered for a moment. _‘What could possibly go wrong?’_

 

“JARVIS if I give you some legs to stretch you won’t kill us all or enslave humanity will you?

 

“I have no such plans sir.” JARVIS sniffed sounding offended by the idea.

 

“Good. See it’ll be fine.” Tony said with a wave of his hand. "Trust the pseudo sentient AI."

 

  
Steve ducked his head with smile. It was pretty impressive though, he respected that kind of intelligence. For being in such a private space he felt quite comfortable,  he’d must have been invited down her a lot in the past.  There was a comforting sense of seclusion, a safe space. 

 

The armed robot scooted close to him cautious, it recognized him. Steve smiled and  he held his hand out to it and out and the robot happily placed its claw in the center of his palm as if he were feeding a horse.

 

“Hey there Dummy.” The robot whirred with the same excited happy way the other had.  Dummy, the name out effortlessly and it was exciting remembering it.

  
He repeated with a murmur what Tony had said ‘“What could possibly go wrong?”  He gave Dummy’s claw a friendly pat.  He held up the smaller bot up to it and they inspected each other.  

 

  
“Aw look they like each other.” Tony teetered on his feet looking around like he was looking for something looking sheepish.

 

  
 “Eh that wasn’t really…” Tony trailed off mumbling something under his breath.  “Say Cap, would you snitch on me if I were to say I kind of forgot what I was originally going to show you?”

  
Steve shook his head, setting the little bot on the floor, he couldn’t help but smile as it whistled again and followed after Dummy across the floor.  Both he and Tony let out a puff simultaneously the feeling mutual.  Tony looked a little relieved then in a second his face lit up again.   


“Oh!” Tony clapped his hands in sudden thought “I know what I can show you. You’ll either find it impressive or insulting.”   

 

Insulting?   Steve watched curiously as Tony ducked behind the work table and dug through a box haphazardly, tossing whatever he didn’t want over his shoulders.

 

Tony called out an ‘aha!’ and reappeared behind the table with what looked like a black wrist band.   

“Check this.” Tony said as he strapped a black strap onto his wrist and tapped it a bit with the tip of his finger.  There was a flicker of pale light and a round image materialized between them.  It was a translucent projection of his shield. “Throw something at me.”

 

Steve gave Tony a startled  look. What a strange request.

 

“Go on throw something at me. A wrench, a shoe anything.”  Steve stood to attention at the strange request but couldn’t help but hesitate. Tony made a face. “Come on lots of people would leap at the opportunity to throw something at me.”

 

“You sure it’s okay?”

 

  
“Yes trust me.” Tony braced himself again. ‘Trust me’ there it was again. ‘Trust me, what could go wrong?’  Steve picked a pair of plain work goggles off the table, being too afraid of throwing something heavy, sharp or breakable, earning an eye roll from Tony.  Steve took a breath and reluctantly chucked them at him. To his surprise they bounced off the shield harmlessly. Tony beamed proudly at his reaction.

“See. Cool huh? It’s an energy shield.”

 

“Yeah.” Steve said amazed, inching closer to inspect this energy shield. He stretched out a finger and paused. “Can I touch it?”

 

“Go for it.”  Steve leaned in and gingerly tapped the hologram with his fingertip, almost startled to feel it solid. He tapped it again, with each tap it gave off a strange faint buzz, like tapping on a screen door.

 

“Did you come up with this?”

 

“Nah. It’s just some modded tech I got from SHEILD. I just made it better. Check this out.”   He showed him how the shield could change sizes and shape, form force-fields and even shoot. It really was amazing. When Steve asked how it worked Tony eagerly jumped into an enthusiastic technical spiel that mostly went over Steve’s head but it was nice to see him so excited about something.  “So insulted? Impressed?”

 

“I admit I’m impressed, but I’d prefer my shield.”

 

“Well good because you can’t have it.” Tony retorted facetiously pulling away and holding it close to his chest.

 

“well good because I don’t want it.” Steve stepped back playing along. Tony seemed he smiled playful. There was a familiar glint in his eye Steve was happy to see. This was nice, playful banter with an old friend, it seemed right.

 

“Why don’t you grab your shield and we’ll go a few rounds. See which is best?” Tony goaded him. Steve thought for a second that actually sounded like a good idea. He was suddenly full of energy and ready to go.

* * *

For the next hour and a half, he and Tony tossed around both their respective shields.

 

Steve would roll duck and deflect any shots tony threw at him, after a while Tony incorporated one of his gauntlets into the spar.

It was nice to be physical again, stretching muscles and letting himself relax.  this too all felt natural, Steve felt himself falling back into place. It almost made him eager to get back out on the field ala Captain America.   

 

Steve finally stopped to take a breather. Plopping on the mats Tony shuffled over and sat next to him.

 

“Call it a draw?”  Holding out his fist, Steve instinctual reached over and bumped his against his.

 

“Deal.”   

 

Tony reached out his fist, and without a second though Steve bumped his knuckles lightly against Tony’s. They fell into an easy comfortable laughter. 

 

“This was nice, fun.”

 

“Yeah, we’ll do it again, once I can feel my legs again.” Steve laugh “Loser does the dishes for a week.”

 

“You’re on.” Steve bumped his shoulder with Tony’s. A warm giddiness came over him where he couldn’t help but smile. That was new.  He 

took a deep breath to calm the strange fluttering. He felt more like himself at this moment than he had in weeks and he was glad at how easily he and Tony were getting along. It was a relief. 

 

“So, how pizza and a movie tonight? Something nonsensical and colorful.” Steve’s heart leaped with excitement now, spending more time together. 

 

  
“Yeah, sounds good.”   He bumped his shoulder again, but instead of pulling away it stayed, unconsciously Steve leaned into it.  It felt good, comforting. The lingering feelings of loneliness melting away with the warmth of his skin against his. Then just a little too soon he pulled away.  Steve looked over at him but Tony’s eyes were looking above him.   


 

 “I think we have an audience.” Tony said with a point of his finger. Tony was right, There up in the balcony Natasha, Bruce sat watching, with Clint pressed up against the window looking like an amazed five year old.  

 

Both Steve and Tony gave them a cute wave, which they reciprocated just as cutely.  Clint disappeared from the window and in seconds bounded into the room with grabby hands.

 

“Lemme see lemme see!”

 

Tony pulled away “What’s the magic word?”

 

“Gimmie!”

“Eh good enough.” Tony shrugged, the shield de-materialized. “But if you break  it you buy it.” He told him while tugging off the wrist strap and handing it over.

 

  
“Yeah yeah whatever. How’s this work?”  Clint mumbled strapping on the wrist band and began pushing buttons without waiting for instructions. The shield buzzed back to life and Clint jumped in excitement. He turned to Steve and smiled. “Hit me.”

 

“Why does everyone keep saying that to me today?”

 

  
“Hit! Someone hit me dammit.” Natasha obliged, appeared behind him and gave him a whack to the back of the head.  Steve and Bruce laughed and Clint braced himself as his goaded Natasha into attacking him.   


  
“Well you twits enjoy yourselves. I expect a review in writing on my desk by morning.”  Tony said waving over his shoulder as her headed for the exit. Steve felt his smile suddenly drop.    


 

  
“Oh you’re leaving?”  He said out loud surprising himself. E veryone paused. Tony looked uncomfortable for a moment, he shifted.   


“Yeah I think I've had enough ass kicking for today. I still call it a draw though."

 

"Oh. Okay. Seeya then."  Steve watched Tony go with a small heaviness in his chest. Disappointment maybe. They were having a good time finally, reconnecting. Their fun cut short. He hoped he wouldn't disappear for hours at a time again.  


 

"Pizza. Later. Someone else please choose a good movie this time no more Bourne Legacy please."  Tony backed away walking backward out the door. 

 

Well at least that was something. Maybe they'd get a chance to talk again later. The disappointment he felt he couldn't understand fully.  Why didn't Tony want to stay? Wasn't he enjoying his company too? Then again Steve didn't really have a reason to feel like that, it wasn't like their friends interrupted anything important. But why did it feel like it all of a sudden? Steve shook his head trying to clear his thoughts.

 

A small shudder went through him that he quickly shook off. The ‘trust me what could go wrong’ still stuck with him. Ringing that familiar but forgotten bell in his head. It made him feel uneasy and he couldn't understand why. An anxiety hummed in his chest with the words, giving him the strangest urge to stick close to Tony, as if something bad were going to happen. 

 

Steve clutched his shield and caught Natasha's eyes a moment and looked away. He thought of leaving for a second to go to his room possibly to brood to himself but instead he turned back and strapped his shield back on his arm and boldly challenged Clint to throw everything he had at him. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> OKAY, its short but I needed proof that I didn't give up on this fic. Its been killing me that I havent really touched it in so long and I think about it literally almost everyday. I've been so stuck, but writing the other one has helped a lot. I had to dig up the drafts from my old computer and then my current one is also on its last legs but no more excuses! Get that ball rolling again.  
> ONWARD


End file.
